The ecology of the zooplankton in Mexican inland waters: What we know so far

Abstract

The varied physiography and climate of the Mexican territory have produced a large mosaic of inland aquatic ecosystems. However, zooplankton ecology has been studied mainly from the water bodies of Central (Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt), eastern (the Yucatán Peninsula), and southern Mexico. In contrast, the zooplankton from the Mesa Central water bodies has been insufficiently investigated. After a long history of zooplankton taxonomic studies, the first contributions to the zooplankton ecology dated to the 1990 s, rapidly increasing afterward. Most ecological information arises from field investigations and experiments under laboratory conditions, lacking mesocosms and whole-lake experiments. In the same way, the studies have been carried out in lentic, natural, and artificial water bodies, primarily eutrophic. Differently, the zooplankton ecology of lotic ecosystems is largely unknown. Here we summarized the progress made in the study of the zooplankton ecology of Mexican inland waters, revealing the most important research topics developed so far.